It will not be easy. Doing a documentary about Greenland. That is the feeling I have had since the day I decided to take on this project. It became even clearer yesterday when I met one of Nuuk’s business leaders and one of their best known photographers. At first I thought their cold was due to the fact that I was half an hour late due to getting lost in the snow storm and the icy wind. But I soon realized it had to do with the fact that another qallunaat had turned up on the island ready to strengthen the already prevailing images and stereotypes of the Greenlanders. (qallunaat is Inuktitut and Greenlandic which can be translated as white people, but today often meaning Danish)

“The only films done by outsiders are portraits of the romantic image of hunters in the north, looking deep into the horizon and waiting for their prey at the same time as they are shamans and being profoundly deep in thoughts about the meaning of life” , the middle aged photographer said with a certain disdain and continued by saying: “Or otherwise something negative about our problems.”

“In reality, the noble hunter then returns home and ends up in drunkenness for days”, adds the business leader.

I fully understand the fact that Greenlanders are fed up as regards to the stereotypes of themselves, which are portrayed by far too many photographers, opinion makers, film makers and foreign observers. It is either the image of the noble savage or the Greenlandic drunkard. It is sort of an orientalism as described by Edward Said. Well known to anyone involved in Middle Eastern issues. In short, Edward Said argues that Western scholars have created this orientalism of continued images negativity to portray the West as good and the east as bad alternative. They against us. Created just to be able to keep the power an dominate the others. In this case a sort of a Eskimo orientalist.

“I had an exhibition and lecture at the Smithsonian in Washington about climate change and what opinions the Greenlanders had as regard to it and many visitors came up to me and said, you are not an Eskimo!” the photographer told me with more disdain and added: “We are only human beings as well.”

“I´d like to do a positive but realistic documentary about Greenland” , I tried slightly uncomfortably, unsure what to say, since everything I had brought up as a question ended up not so good, but the photographer had a good answer for me: “Just do a film which has a good story, whether positive or negative, as long as it is a good story.”

He is 100 percent right. And I really buy their opinions and worries. And the meeting was really needed and refreshing. Because, in truth, these faulty images of Greenland are indeed some of what I have added in the back of my head before coming here. The hunting communities in the north. And the drug- and alcohol addiction in the communities. Because this is basically what you find when you do research about Greenland. But, of this, I have seen very little during my first week in Nuuk. I have, though, seen a very modern society which is getting more interesting by the day.

“But” , I wondered before I once again headed out into the snowstorm: “I think part of the problem is if you check Visit Greenland’s homepage this is very much what they are selling. Like dog sledging, hunters in the north and helicopters on top of a glacier and the extraordinary nature. Exactly these images of Greenland you say are wrong.”

“No we don´t!” the business leader argued in such a way, so I asked her if she was employed by them, which she denied at the same time as the photographer agreed with my assessment.

This is the home page, judge for yourself. I contacted them during my research but the answer was unfriendly, complete lack of interest and even in this case, I had this feeling, that they have had enough of foreign observers, opinion makers, film makers and photographers who have arrived to give their own version how they see this gigantic island with 55 000 inhabitants.

PS. Schools were closed today, due to the weather, but I fought the high winds to get here to send this report and to buy bread and butter for the wife. Took me 45 min to get here. She said I was the hunter sorting out the food issue for the family, when I entered the storm, with some orientalism. I just love this little breeze and the storm, just down my alley! DS